The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for cutting fibrous products and, in particular, to a method of and apparatus for cutting, sealing and encapsulating fibrous products so that dust and/or short lengths of fiber created by the cutting of the fibrous product will be retained in the fibrous product.
In the manufacture of fibrous products, such as, molded, non-molded, non-woven, cured and/or uncured fiber glass mat products and other fibrous products, the product must be cut and/or trimmed at certain stages of the manufacturing operation. Examples of such products are fiber glass vehicle headliners, fiber glass vehicle hoodliners, fiber glass air filtration media, fiber glass insulation, fiber glass air duct board, fiber glass mat board and carpeting. The cutting or trimming of such fibrous products produces dust and/or short lengths of fiber adjacent the kerf. The dust and/or short length fibers can be a nuisance and possible irritant to those persons handling and installing the products. Accordingly, there has been a need to minimize or greatly reduce the problems caused by the creation of dust and short length fibers during the cutting and trimming operations performed during the manufacture of these fibrous products.
Various methods have been used to cut and/or trim the fibrous products discussed above. These methods include the use of band saws, 3D trimmers, heated blade trimmers, die boards, rotary saws, choppers and high energy fluid jets. However, none of these methods of cutting and trimming such fibrous products have eliminated the problems associated with the creation of dust and short length fibers during the cutting and/or trimming process.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,825, issued to Rupert Douglas Terry on Dec. 14, 1976, and entitled Method and Apparatus for Cutting a Web Fibrous Non-woven Mat, discloses a method of cutting fibrous products with a high energy fluid jet. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,825, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.